You Can't Keep a Good Dog Down
by Loopy Darling
Summary: Sirius finds paradise and a few old friends, but when a holy artefact is stolen, Prongs and Padfoot return to get it back. Problem is, they're insubstantial. When a chance arises, Sirius grabs it and they find themselves making a deal with evil...
1. What is Defeat?

**You Can't Keep a Good Dog Down  
  
by Luxx  
  
Summary: After the big 'event' in OotP, Sirius finds a new type of life for himself, but is paradise big enough for Sirius and James? Because it really isn't interesting enough! When Gabriel's Horn is stolen from heaven, the two angelic maurauders return to Earth to retreive it asap. Problem is, Sirius isn't really ready to go back just yet... When the horn falls into the wrong hands however, Sirius and James find themselves under Voldemort's control, and not only is Hogwarts in danger, but so is Heaven and all it's souls including Lily!   
  
Disclaimer: I'm only gonna do this just this one time, so read well and remember. Sirius Black is not mine. Neither is James Potter. If I owned either one of them, they'd be a lot healthier in that wonderous not being dead sort of way. I also do not own Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Draco, Dumbledore... you get the picture. they all belong to JK Rowling. Now, as far as the original plot idea comes from, It is based on and inspired by the animated movie All Dogs Go To Heaven 2. (Charlie reminds me of Sirius, and from there an idea was born...) Don't worry, I don't follow that plot to closely, just the idea about Gabriel's Horn yadda yadda... you'll see if you read on.  
  
A/N: Wow, I'm really actually excited to write this story. I originally had this whole plotline for life without Sirius, but then I thought of this and they mesh together so well. I'm really proud of myself on this one I think. I've always wanted to do an action adventure, but it's always kind of intimidated me. If you can't tell this story is making me really really nervous, so your approval (or complete hatred) would really help me out. I'm open to comments, praise ;) and of course ideas! And for all those who just love to flame people... go ahead! I'll even accept a few death threats if it means that someone is reviewing me!  
  
Prologue:**   
  
Sirius was feeling better than he had in so many years. It was hard to remember when he had felt so excited and pumped up and alive. It had been so long since he had felt so much like himself. He quickly dodged a curse that his wretched cousin Bellatrix sent flying at him with the ease and grace that he remembered from the old days. This was life again. Feeling charged, fighting the good fight. He felt laughter threatening to bubble up inside of him at the petulant pout that crossed Bella's face at her spectacular miss. Her temper was rising, he could tell. All Blacks were famous for their spectacularly short tempers, not even he was an exception to that rule. Her eyes were dark with hatred, and it seemed that there was a pause between them, or maybe that time had slowed down somehow just to allow him the priveledge of laughing in her ugly and spiteful face. It was just like christmas holidays when they were young. They had always managed to end the festive cheer with a fight, and a well timed duel that left one of them with bruised egos for weeks on end. Just like he had when they were children, he called out to taunt her, to add just that little bit of insult to injury.  
  
"Come on, you can do better than that!" he called. There was, however, a flaw in his plan for it was not christmas holidays. This was not just a fight over whose house had the better quidditch captain, or what is the better profession to follow after Hogwarts. This was not his little cousin Bella who had been cunning, but never dangerous. This was not the same girl who would respond to his teasing with insults of her own in an attempt to throw him off. No, this wasted woman before him was a product of years in Azkaban, which had taught her how very little words meant. She did not rise to his baiting. Perhaps it was because she had forgotten how, or perhaps she did not want to remeber the good ole days, where they had fought so furiously over things so trivial, it was most likely however, that she, unlike Sirius had heard a voice call out that Dumbledore was in the room.   
  
She saw her chance, and she acted.   
  
"Stupefy!" she all but screamed, thrusting her wand towards him. Sirius had not been expecting this, he had wanted her to joke back with him, even as they fought to the death, or at least to one or the other's incarceration. He had wanted her to join in his game, to bring on that euphoric sense of self that he had been indulging in throughout the battle. It wasn't until a split second before the curse had hit him squarely in the chest, that he saw the magnificent form of Albus Dumbledore across the room. He fell with the knowledge that everything would surely go fine now that Dumbledore was here to bail them out. He never noticed the veil as his limp body passed through to the other side...  
  
**Chapter One: What is defeat?  
**  
_**What is defeat? Nothing but education; nothing but the first step to something better.   
-Wendell Phillips (1811 - 1884)**_  
  
Sirius groaned as the blackness that filled his mind began to recede, leaving a throbbing ache in it's place. He didn't dare open his eyes for fear of the dizziness it would cause. _Bella has most definitley improved her stunning techniques.  
_  
"I think he's coming too!" A voice said, sounding very distant to Sirius' ears, although he knew that this was most likely a side effect of his concussion.   
  
"It's about bloody time! I mean, I know we have eternity and all that rubbish, but I've been waiting for this for more than a decade now and this sad wanker can't even open his eyes to say, I dunno 'hey there Prongs, how's death been treating you?' or even better: 'Hey mate, here's the fifty pounds I've owed you since before the invention of the..." but the voice was suddenly cut off as Sirius let out a long, painfilled groan.   
  
"Uurrrghhh! Shut up!" he moaned, and his observers gave him indignant glares that he couldn't see as he had just thrown an arm firmly over his eyes. This was like the worst hangover in the history of the world! No one should feel this pain. Assuming that he had been safely and lovingly dropped in a pile on the middle of the dirty floor of number twelve Grimmauld Place, he continued on as if it were a normal day.  
  
"Kreacher! Get me a glass of scotch!" Clearly feeling that begging for booze meant that Sirius was once again functional, one of the onlookers lost her temper. She grabbed a handful of the front of Sirius' robes and gave him a good shake.  
  
"That's enough of that you whiny prat. Open - Your - Eyes!" She gave him a firm smack to the chest for each word that she said.   
  
"Ow! Ow ow ow! Bloody hell!" Sirius mumbled as he tried to swat away the offending hand that had been smacking him. The other onlookers had become almost panicked at the smacker's rise in temper and the reached forwards and grabbed her.   
  
"That's enough Lils. He's waking up just fine, we don't need you bruising the poor delicate boy." Sirius shot upwards and opened his eyes. They were unfocussed, but he immediatley recognized the last onlooker to have spoken. He bent, down rubbing the heel of his hands into his eyes to clear them.  
  
"Merlin's Beard Harry! I'm up okay! Who was that smacking me?"   
  
"That'd be me!" a young, cheery voice exclaimed. Whose voice was that? Tonks maybe...? Sirius uncovered his eyes to get a better look, but all he got was bowled over for his efforts.  
  
"Oh Padfoot!" the voice had cried before flying on top of him, knocking him on his back in a flash of red hair and kisses covering his cheeks. He hadn't had this kind of warm reception since.... he couldn't even remember. His fuzzy mind was trying to comprehend what was going on, when that someone else leaned over him and the girl. _Harry? No, not Harry... but surely it wasn't...?   
_  
"James?" he forced out, half praying it was true, and half praying he was being crazy and that his mind would clear and he would see it was just Harry and they would all have some joke about it. James gave him a mock frown and crouched down next to him.  
  
"Trying to steal my wife are you? First day here and he's already sniffing around the skirts." James said in mock dissappointment. The girl raised herself up from on top of him, and Sirius pushed himself up onto his elbows.  
  
"He's such a dog." the girl said with a sly grin. This girl he realized, was in fact, Lily Potter. There was no mistaking the twinkle in her emerald green eyes, or the mischevious curl of her lips even though he had not seen her for fifteen years. And if this girl was in fact Lily Potter, then there was no mistake, the man beside her was not Harry, although they looked so much alike. He was not staring into the eyes of his godson, but rather into the ice blue orbs of his long dead best friend: James Potter.  
  
"James." he said, voice hushed and mind racing. James and Lily's faces softened into welcoming smiles.  
  
"Hey there Padfoot." James said in a gentle tone of voice. This, it seemed, was all that Sirius was able to take. He lept to his feet with a speed that defied his sore limbs and spinning head. Panic was beginning to set in. He looked all around him, everything was white and fluffy. This was definitely not home. James and Lily were sitting on the ground... cloud....whatever it was. _James and Lily are dead!_ He began to make connections in his mind. James _and Lily are dead, so that means... _Before he could finish the thought, another person stepped up in front of him and Lily and James rose to their feet looking worried.   
  
"Hello Sirius." Said the woman that he didn't know. She was tall and thin and graceful looking. She reminded him of a swan, with her white white hair and large clear eyes. She bowed her head to him. Sirius' eyes flicked back and forth from the woman to James and Lily, who were now standing hand in hand beside him.   
  
"Welcome." The woman said, in a soft and calming tone of voice.   
  
"Welcome where?" Sirius shot at the woman, but he never took his eyes off of the Potters.  
  
"Welcome, my dear, to being dead." There was a long moment of silence, and James was sure he could almost see the wheels turning in his friend's head. Then, after awhile, the wheels stopped, and realization set in.  
  
"DEAD?!" Sirius shouted, loud enough to cause an echo, even though there seemed to be no walls for his voice to bounce off of.  
  
"Oh yes, quite dead I'm afraid."  
  
"Stone cold." James piped up.  
  
"Out of commission." Lily joined.  
  
"End of the line."  
  
"Six feet und..."  
  
"No! No, no, no, no no, no, no, NO!" Sirius chanted and began to pace back and forth angrily. "This is a mistake! I can't be... dead? Can I?" James and Lily looked at him with pity in their eyes, and for just a moment he almost accepted it, until he realized how ludicrous this all was.  
  
"No." He said firmly. "This isn't right! That stupid wretch couldn't have killed me! Dumbledore was right there! How could it be possible?!" It seemed he was talking more to himself than to the others. James looked stricken at his friend's vehement denial, but Lily tore herself away from her husband and came to Sirius, putting a comforting hand on his arm. Their eyes met, and Sirius' resolve crumbled. It was true. He was dead.  
  
"It's not fair." He pleaded. Lily wrapped her arms around him and was murmuring comforting words that he didn't care to make out. "I just got back." Even he wasn't sure if he meant back from Azkaban, or back to himself. In his mind, he had been dead for twelve years before he found Harry again. He just got back to being someone, and now he was really, really dead? It wasn't right!  
  
Slowly, Lily stepped aside to allow the strange woman to stand before him.  
  
"See this clock?" she asked, a silver pocketwatch hovering inches above her hand. "This watch is your life. And it has stopped." Sirius took the watch into his hand and stared at it.  
  
"Well, can't you just wind it back up or something?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer.  
  
"We could." She said, and Sirius perked up a bit. "But if you were to go to earth again, you could never come back here." He would be a ghost, he knew instinctively, roaming around insubstatial and unimportant for the rest of time. He glanced at the watch.   
  
"Padfoot, mate, don't do it." It was James who finally spoke this time. "If you go back there, you know it means forever don't you? And you'll be there long after everyone and everything that made going back worth it, has died and come here." Sirius met his best friend's eyes for the first time since he had first realized who it was looking back at him. He knew what he had to do. With a sigh, Sirius returned the pocketwatch to the strange woman.  
  
"You've made the right decision Sirius." Lily said with her sweet, infallible smile.  
  
"I know, it's just... what about Harry? He's had so much taken away... and we had just been starting to get close." James patted him on the back reassuringly.   
  
"Don't worry mate. He'll have Moony to take care of him from now on, and someday, they'll end up here with us again." Lily had other things running through her head, however.  
  
"What do you mean _just starting_ to get close?" she asked in a worried tone.  
  
"Well, you know, it's been hard really. It's not like I could just pop into the Dursley's kitchen for a chat." Lily and James both stiffened.  
  
"The Dursleys? Who are they? What do they have to do with anything?" Sirius could feel his temper rise just a notch. _Are they being daft on purpose?  
  
_ "You know! The Dursleys! Harry's guardians? Don't you know?" But obviously they didn't know. It seemed that they didn't really know anything at all.  
  
"You don't mean... Petunia and her husband do you? That can't be! We specifically appointed you as Harry's guardian!"  
  
"WELL IT'S KINDA HARD TO BE THE KID'S GUARDIAN WHEN YOU'RE LOCKED UP IN AZKABAN NOW ISN'T IT?!" Sirius snarled at them, and they both looked taken aback. Lily gasped and put her hand to her mouth, while James looked on with wide eyes. Sirius felt his temper drop. "Do you... I mean, can't you see what...? Don't you know what has happened the last fourteen years?" He asked with a sinking feeling, and he just noticed that the strange woman had vanished.  
  
"We can't... well we can't _see _anything from up here mate."  
  
"You mean, you've never been able to look down on Harry? You've never seen him grow up at all?" Lily and James both shook their heads no. Sirius could barely wrap his mind around it. He began to pace again. James and Lily had never even seen Harry. They never watched him play quidditch, or saw him beat the dragon during the Triwizard Tournament. They had never seen him face Voldemort, and he, Sirius, would never see what would happen to his godson. He would never get to know if everything was alright down there. Everything about your loved ones being able to look down on you from Heaven was completely false.

**A/N: Well, this is the end of part one folks. Hope you enjoyed it. The other chapters will hopefully come on soon and will be longer than this one. I really just needed to get a feel for the story. **

**Drop me a line and tell me how it was:)**

**Coming up Next:**

**Sirius' funeral: Feelings on the loss of Sirius from familiar friends, as well as hordes of other people who really shouldn't be there**

**and**

**What Heaven's really like: Is paradise really paradise if you're bored stiff? Well never fear! Evil's still afoot and the plot starts cookin'**

ciao

****


	2. What's Gone and What's Past

**You Can't Keep a Good Dog Down**

By Luxx

Summary: After OoTP, Sirius finds himself in the company of old friends, but paradise just isn't enough. When Gabriels horn is stolen from Heaven, the angelic duo are on a mission to retrieve it.  
  
Chapter Two:  
  
**Sirius Black Wrongfully Accused**

_For the past fourteen years it has been common knowlege amongst the wizarding world that the notorious Sirius Black, Death eater and strong supporter of You-Know-Who, was anything but innocent, but has it all been one big cover up? Ministry officials say yes.  
One time Gryffindor at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, Black had always been known for being a charismatic and attractive youth, receiving top marks in all of his classes. He had been one of the brightest minds to ever pass through the halls of Hogwarts, graduating with the class of 1979 alongside his closest friend - James Potter. "Rarely saw one without the other back in those days," says Christabelle Leering who had once been a very close friend of both Black and Potter. "Between the two of them, life was never boring at Hogwarts." The beautiful young woman says wistfully. In fact, everyone asked about life with Potter and Black seem to have much the same surprising reaction - a sense of happy nostalgia. It is obvious that the two had been extremely close.  
Why then, one must ask, had rumours been spread so viciously concerning Black's involvment during the fall of 1981 with the dark forces that inevitably caused the death of such a close friend? It is no secret that during this time, the Potters (James, his wife Lily - formerly Lily Evans, and their son Harry) had been harassed and chased down quite fervently by agents of You-Know-Who. When, at last, the Potters conceded to going into hiding at the urging of one Albus Dumbledore, they lived to see all of two days of safety before the mysterious events of Halloween came crashing down upon them. Both James Potter and Lily Potter were killed by no less than Voldemort himself, leaving only young Harry Potter to survive through it all. Rumour has it that the Potters had been so easily found because it was in fact their best friend, Black, who gave up their hiding place to the Deatheaters with whom he had been in league. Now, 14 years later, the rumours seem to have been proven false. After that fateful night, Black was captured and imprisoned for the deaths of 13 people on a Muggle street in London the very next day. "Black seemed to find it rather hysterical at the time." states Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge, "but new evidence has come to light that tells us there had indeed been other forces at work that day." What these "other forces" may be, no one seems to be quite certain, but the mysterious evidence seems to lead to one conclusion: Sirius Black was wrongfully accused, but he shall never be a free man.  
A disturbance late in the night of July 10th in the department of mysteries involving Albus Dumbledore, a group of Hogwarts students including Harry Potter himself, a group of Deatheaters (who as of yet remain unnamed) and a small group of civilians including Sirius Black resulted in not only the capture of many Deatheaters, but also Black's own untimely demise. This is a great loss to all those witches and wizards who knew Black personally. We here at the Daily Prophet implore you to not remember Sirius Black as a Deatheater, but instead remember him as you knew him so many years ago: a bright, and strong young man who died a hero's death in the attempt to end the pain and misery brought on but such people. A small memorial service will be held this coming Monday at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_.  
"Rubbish." Harry pronounced angrily, throwing the newspaper whose front page was taken up by this article beneath a photo of a young Sirius, looking around haughtily before winking and sticking out his tongue.

"Well really Harry, this isn't half as bad as what they could have turned this story into. In fact they seem to be uncharictaristically forgiving, but I suppose that would be Fudge's doing..." Hermione stated, glancing at her friend warily over a mug of hot cocoa.  
"Yeah, they painted him in a good light alright, after sentencing him without trial to Azkaban for 12 years, and hunting him like an animal for the past three." Ron said sarcastically. He didn't know it, but he had just read Harry's mind. The three of them were sitting around the kitchen table in the Burrow. Normally Harry would still be at the Dursley's this time of year, hiding in rosebushes and being bullied by his muggle family, but this year after Sirius' death, Dumbledore seemed to feel that leaving for the warmth of the Weasley family at the Burrow a few weeks earlier than usual would be therapeutic. Hermione had joined them shortly after Harry had arrived, but this time she would not be spending the remainder of the holidays like last year, but rather returning home after two weeks before heading off to the Hogwarts Express in the company of her parents who hadn't had the chance to see her off since their second year.

"You can't even find the word Azkaban in there, not to mention the fact that they kept calling what happened when my parents died a "rumour."" Harry mumbled venomously.

"Well, the Ministry doesn't want any of this truly getting out do they?" Hermione went on in her 'know-it-all' tone of voice. "Think about it, they sent Sirius to Azkaban without a trial, he was held there for 12 years without ever having commited the crimes for which he was being punished, and when he finally did escape, they spent all sorts of resources trying to recapture him! If the truth were known, can you imagine what the consequences for the Ministry would be?" Harry and Ron gave her bewildered looks.  
"Are you... You're not defending this article... Are you?!" Ron asked incredulously, but Hermione set her face to one of resolve.  
"Look, I agree with you both that this is an absolutely horrid situation, but in sensitive times like this it is extremely important that there is control. People would be outraged, and rightly so, and Fudge would begin to lose credibility. It's very important during a war that the people have a strong leader to turn to." Ron snorted, seeming to find the idea of Fudge as a 'strong leader' completely hilarious. "Who is of course Dumbledore, acting through Fudge. Now that the minister for Magic has joined our way of thinking, it's important that we keep him in that position of power."  
"So you're saying that Fudge keeping his job is more important than people knowing the truth about Sirius?" Harry said angrily.  
"Of course it is." Hermione snapped back at him, frustrated. Harry's eyes widened in shock. He thought that she would have said no, even if she didn't mean it, but he had not expected that she actually believed what she was saying. Seeing the look on Harry's face, Hermione seemed to soften a litte.  
"Harry, you know I didn't mean that the ministry is more important than Sirius. Politics are never more important than people."  
"It sure sounded like it." Harry grumbled furiously. Ron stared wide eyed at Hermione in shock. He couldn't believe that she could possibly be so tactless, but she had been. He shook his head and dropped his eyes to a burn mark on the table.  
"You know I cared about Sirius. We all did Harry, you just... you don't see it because you were so much closer than the rest of us."  
"Don't lie Hermione. You thought he was mad and reckless and stupid and you never pretended any different when he was alive, so don't pretend to think so now." She looked as if she had been slapped, and her eyes became shiny with unshed tears.  
"Don't you dare take this out on me Harry Potter! Don't you dare! I may not have always agreed with Sirius, but I never thought... I never said..." She paused a moment to collect herself.

"I spent six weeks living in that house with him over the summer, and we weren't close, but... I talked to him! I sat at the table with him everyday for dinner, I worked with him and joked with him and he just became..." She had wanted to say something along the lines of "a part of everyday life" but she didn't seem to be able to get the words out properly. "but now... now he's gone and he won't ever come back! And all of those things that were nothing at the time seem to mean more and more because they will never happen again Harry! And I wish he were here right now so that I could tell him he was stupid and reckless and mad! But I can't! And that's just so horribly wrong..." A tear dripped down her cheek, and she glanced at Ron to see if at least he understood what she was saying, but he hadn't raised his head once during the entire conversation. Giving Harry one last glare, she left the kitchen and hurried up the stairs, sniffling as she went.

Harry sat rooted to his seat. He hadn't known that Hermione had ever felt so sad about Sirius' death, but then, they had never really talked about how she felt, had they? For the first time he truly saw that he was not the only one affected. He had forgotten all those weeks that the Weasleys and Hermione and the rest of the Order had spent at number twelve Grimmauld Place. He had never considered that maybe, just maybe, Sirius had been someone to them too. He remembered the detatched look in Lupin's eyes when he dragged Harry away from the veil, he remembered Tonks running off to the loo when she had regained conciousness and was told the news. Even Mrs Weasley had taken it hard, even though she and Sirius could hardly be in the same room at the same time without finding something to argue about. She had positively burnst into tears one day when she scolded George for balancing his chair on the back two legs, just as he was sure she had scolded Sirius for the same thing many times before. Molly Weasley was afterall, a mother to all, and now that Sirius was gone, it was as if she had lost a particularly willful and troublesome nephew. Harry let his gaze pass to Ron, who had not yet lifted his head, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.

"So what about you then?" Harry asked him, far less snappish then he had been with Hermione. It took a few seconds before Ron answered.  
"I'm not going to start sobbing if that's what you mean." Ron said, but his voice was glum nonetheless. "I think I understand what Hermione was trying to say bout Sirius though." Ron finally met his eyes. "Hermione has sort of become like family right?" Ron asked and Harry nodded in affirmation, still not understanding exactly where this was going. "Well the Order, most of them are like that too... And Sirius was like... the big brother." Ron even smiled a little at this. "Mum even made him a jumper for christmas. It was beige because she said that he never wore anything but dark colours..." he seemed to realize the pointless direction the conversation was taking, so Ron switch back on focus again. "We just, we cared is all, and Hermione is really sappy sometimes. She took it kinda hard I guess. I think she misses trying to boss him around." Ron joked, and to his own amazement, Harry cracked a smile at this.

"I suppose she would wouldn't she?" Harry said fondly, deciding to appologize to Hermione first thing in the morning. "I feel like such a selfish prat."

"Don't. You don't need to tiptoe around our feelings." Hearing these words made Harry feel more grateful for having a friend like Ron than he had in a long time.

"Sirius Black - this is your afterlife." Lily said with a winning smile, making a sweeping motion with her hand as if to present the world to him. It wasn't really all that bad. The weather was perfect, it was quiet and peaceful. In fact it looked like a far lovlier version of Harry's neighborhood, which he had only seen once, right before Harry caught the Knightbus during his third year. Strolling along leisurely next to Lily and James Potter, breathing in the fresh scent of the air and the brightly shining sun, Sirius could almost beleive that he could be happy here for the rest of eternity.

"You won't be here for eternity, don't worry." James said with a smirk.  
"Did I say that out loud?"  
"Everything from it looking like Harry's neighborhood right up until staying here for eternity." Sirius looked a little stricken, as though afraid he was losing his mind. Talking to yourself was one thing, but talking to yourself without even noticing it? That was a different problem altogether.  
"Oh don't worry about it." Lily soothed. "It's all a little much to take in, being dead and all." She was so matter-of-fact about this statement that Sirius could think of no response other than:  
"Er, right." He wasn't sure he would ever get used to being dead, but it seemed that Lily and James had. Then again, they had seen almost as many years in death as they had in life. They turned and were now heading towards a lovely little house, with a beautiful garden. Sirius recognized the house immediatley as being the cottage in which the Potters had spent the last days of their lives in Godric's Hollow.

When they entered through the wooden door, one quick look around told him that nothing had changed. The house was exactly the same as it had been Christmas of 1980 - the last time Sirius could remember being completely happy and untainted by the chaos and darkness that had seemed to hang in the air of 1981. They entered the cottage and Sirius paused a moment to take it all in. It seemed that you really could "take it with you" as the saying went. The fireplace was crackling merrily, the decor was the same, there were even curtains and photographs that they had kept for all this time. Sirius walked around, staring in awe at the wizarding snapshots that had be framed and placed around the house. There were photos of Lily and James cuddling, of all three of them posing, some photos with himself and Remus, others of just the couple, or all three of the Potters, a snapshot of Mr and Mrs Potter senior, One photo that was now in Harry's possession of the Potter wedding, but others from that day as well in which he was kissing Lily on the cheek or trying to convince James to give him a piggyback and of course, he, James and Remus posing together looking very uncomfortable in their dress robes. He noticed with satisfaction that Peter was no longer in any of the moving images - perhaps the only bit of vengeance that Lily and James would ever get to dole out to the traitor. One photo caught his eye that he hadn't remembered being there before. It was another photo of him, laying sprawled out on the very same couch he was standing next to, with baby Harry face down on his chest. They were both sleeping, when the Sirius in the photo took in a very deep breath, (that was surely an incredible snore) baby Harry shifted a little, and allowed an incredible amount of drool to run out of the corner of his tiny mouth, right onto his godfather's chest. He gave a chuckle.  
"I can't hardly beleive he was ever this small." Sirius said, gazing fondly at the photo. "He's as tall as Moony now."  
"Tell us everything about him." Lily said excitedly, grabbing his arm and pulling him down onto the couch. James looked just as excited as they both perched themselves on the edge of the coffe table in front of him.  
"Well, uh, he's a good kid?" Sirius said questioningly, unsure of what to say. Not long ago he had had so many things he wanted them to know about, but now that the time had come, he was suddenly finding himself with nothing to say. James and Lily both looked a little wary, as if wondering what could possibly be so bad that Sirius Black was at a loss for words. Then, out of no where, James swore and hung his head in shame.  
"So he takes after this one does he?" James said, gesturing to Lily, who looked both offended at her husband's tone of voice, but pleased at the insinuation that her son took after her. At first, Sirius felt unsure how to respond once more, but then something came over him. He didn't know why he said it, only that it felt right, that it was something that he would say.  
"Yeah, he's as uptight as Tigerlily and as runty looking as you, the poor boy." Twenty years ago, the insult would have rolled off of his tongue, now, they felt an odd mix of foreign and natural. Perhaps it was just the company that was in that brought this out in him once more. He had always loved to tease his friends whenever the opportunity ever arose, and they had always given as good as they got. Azkaban had stolen his love of sillyness, and mocking and sarcasm, and speaking like this to Lily and James made him feel both horrible and exhilarated at the same time. It was like coming home after years away when they smiled and each gave him a kick to the shins.

"So he's both intelligent and attractive." James replied, just as he would have years ago. It was almost as if the three of them had never been apart in that moment.  
"He is the spitting image of you Prongs. It's like looking at your best mate's twin, all of these little differences that make you look exactly the same and nothing alike all at once. You could never fool me or Moony or the Weasleys, but I'm sure that most of the people Harry knows would get the two of you mixed up if you just showed up one day and said you were him."  
"So of course he gets all the girls then."  
"Well, I don't really know much about that actually. He's never really asked me for advice on girls before."  
"Thank God! At least we know my baby got my brains." Lily said, with so much releif in her voice that Sirius wasn't sure if she was joking or not. He was pretty sure she wasn't.  
"Now, now love, any girl that had the bad judgement to go within fifty feet of Sirius deserved everything she got." James replied in a horribly failed attempt to stick up for his best friend. Sirius chose to let that comment slide.  
"There was one girl just recently I think, but they didn't last too long. According to the household gossip she cried almost every time she looked at him. It was something about her last boyfriend's sudden death." He chose to leave out the bits of information that included Voldemort, or Harry's part in the night that Cedric Diggory had died. He was sure it was not something Lily and James needed to hear.  
"And what about school? How are his grades?" Lily asked in true Lily fashion. James gave her a horrified look that clearly stated that there were more important things to hear about than his grades. Everything for instance.  
"Well, I think he's alright in most of his classes - except maybe potions. He's absolutely brilliant in Defense against the dark arts though."  
"But what about fun Sirius? Does the boy do nothing but date the emotionally crippled and study?" When the subject of mischeif arose, Sirius' signature devilish gleam came to his eyes. Reading the expression James came out with his most evil of grins. Lily understood these expressions for what they were. _My baby is a delinquent!_ crossed through her mind, along with _I knew we should have asked nice sensible Remus to be godfather_. but all she managed to say was a strong "bloody hell!" rolling her eyes.  
"Ah, my dear Prongs, the stories are both long and numerous. Sadly all of the ones that I've actually been around to witness however either dealt with him rushing off to my rescue, or myself being completely useless." Sirius said glumly, however he did not seem too depressed. He must have begun to feel more at ease.  
"Ah yes. I remember it well: _James Potter and the drunken dog in downtown London_." James reminisced in a wise tone of voice.  
"Ooh, or _Lily Evans and the man Sirius thought was a girl_." At his wife's comment, James took on a look of confusion. The look that Sirius gave Lily however would make sure that her husband rested forever in this state of near blissfully ignorant confusion.  
"More like _Harry Potter and his escaped convict godfather he thought was out to kill him_, or one of my personal favourites: _Harry Potter and the telling off of his godfather for being a prat as a child and thereby leading his father to a degree of pratness,_ or best of all: _Harry Potter and the illegal travel back through time to save the aforementioned convict/godfather from certain peril by breaking him out of Hogwarts under the nose of Fudge and the dementors and bringing him a hippogriff to ride to safety_. Actually, that one was my favourite." Sirius said, allowing a proud smile to cross his face. Lily and James had nothing to say at this point, which was odd because it was very rare for one of them to go speechless, let alone both of them at the same time. They were in shock for so long that Sirius almost jumped when they both spoke at once.  
"He thought you were out to kill him?!" Lily shreiked as James said excitedly:  
"You actually got to ride a hippogriff?!" Sirius deeply wished that Lily had her husband's priorities at that moment as she was glaring daggers at him.

"This has to do with Azkaban doesn't it? You mentioned before that you were there for twelve years. What happened after we died Sirius?" he was no longer feeling at ease. The mention of Azkaban always made Sirius extremely tense, and discussion of that night filled him with a rage that frightened him with it's intensity. He was afraid of this darkness in him. In Harry's third year, when searching for Peter, Sirius had been driven by it, it fueled him. But after that night in he Shrieking Shack, after seeing Moony and Harry, it made him feel dirty, and contaminated. Surely it was wrong to feed off of the darkness inside of himself. Was it possible to touch evil and to get away without taking some of it with you? And now. looking at Lily and James, waiting patiently for his explanation, looking just as they always had - he felt that contaminated feeling once more. He wanted to get up and leave. He didn't deserve to be here, in the warmth with these people. They were young and innocent and good hearted. They had no way of understanding the depth of the darkness that he had inside of him. He stood up, and turned away from them. He did not see it, but he could tell that they had stood up as well. They seemed nervous of what he might do. He let out his barklike laugh. They had no idea what he was capable of.  
"What did you do after we died?" It was James who asked this time, almost surprising as James rarely ever wanted to speak of anything less than joyful. He often strayed away from serious topics. Perhaps this was why Sirius gave them the answers. Because it was James that asked.  
"I was sent to Azkaban for the murder of thirteen muggles, the destruction of a city block, the murder of Peter Pettigrew and of course, conspiracy leading to the deaths of Lily and James Potter." he said turning to face them. He had to see their faces. He wanted them to see... he wasn't quite sure. Neither Lily nor James said a word. They both sat back down on the couch, never breaking eyecontact with him. James looked as if he were trying to figure out a puzzle. He could not understand how his best friend could find it in himself to do these terrible things. Lily looked disgusted, like she was about to vomit. Sirius had expected no less.  
"And they sent you away without trial?" Lily said in almost a whisper.  
"Er, yes. Yes they did." She searched Sirius' eyes for a long time. James held his face in his hands.  
"And they sent you away for all those years." He ducked his head and mumbled an affirmation. Lily rose to her feet and came to him. He was sure that she would slap him, or at the very least order him away, but she grabbed his face and forced him to look at her again.  
"And the whole time you were completely innocent." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. James was now looking at him from his place on the couch. They believed it was true. He didn't even need to explain, and they knew he hadn't commited those crimes. His stomach clenched when he remembered what Lily had said. She had called him completely innocent. He would certainly love for that to be true, but in the end it was his fault. As grateful as he was for their faith in him, it wouldn't be right to allow them to shove the blame off of him.  
"There's no such thing as innocence for me Lil." he said with a sad little smile. "I didn't do it. But I'll never be innocent again."

A/N: Well. that's all for this chapter! I was going to do more with it, but it seemed like a good stopping point. I do feel a little bad because I know it was really slow moving, but I'm promising some action in the next one, and a return to earth in either chapter 3 or 4. I already have a later chapter finished, so I'm trying to fill in the gap right now. Please, if you have any suggestions or comments or or questions or requests or anything drop me a line! Reviewing is a sweet and wonderous thing to do. Reviewing makes me work faster!  
  
Speaking of reviews  
  
Sweet Sixteen Movie Buff: I ADORE you! you are a wonderful person. I wrote the first chapter of this story and you are the only person so far to review it. I originally had this whole long rant at the beginning being angry about not getting any reviews, and just as I was about to post, I took a look at my stats all depressed and whatnot, but then I saw the little 1 in the reviews column. You have no idea how much I appreciate you! I almost gave up on this fic.  
  
Now, as far as your comments go: I completely agree that Sirius must return and return quickly, but I doubt that will happen, so I write it myself instead. (I have other plot bunnies of this nature floating around in my head, I just don't have the time... yet :) Thank you for your compliments as well. I sorta got it into my head when reading that fight scene that Sirius is a person who is very much longing to be who he was before, as I'm sure you're getting that picture pretty clearly after reading this chapter. Don't worry however! I plan on quitting with the heart to hearts and getting to the action, I just felt that I needed to go into Sirius and James and Lily together again. I find that some writers neglect to do this, and it really takes away from a story. As far as the whole 'not being able to feel pain in heaven' issue, well, I don't think that this will be quite your conventional version of heaven. (for my plot to work, I need Sirius to want to leave) But like you said, I'm not gonna get to into the whole heaven thing anyway. This story is going to be based on earth.  
  
Thank you again for reviewing! You're so great! I have to stop typing now so that I can go read and review everything you've ever written you wonderful person! 


	3. To Win a War

**You Can't Keep a Good Dog Down By Luxx**  
  
A/N: Normally I would leave messages for my reviewers until the end of the chapter, but I have to say this. Sweet Sixteen Movie Buff, you are my personal hero. When I first wrote this, you were the only person to give me feedback on the first chapter, and now that I've posted the second one, you're the very first review. I can't even describe how happy your review made me. I would still post even if no one did review, but knowing that my work is appreciated makes me feel all the more eager to write it. I hereby dedicate this story to you. If there's anything that you feel you would like to see in this story, tell me and I'll see what I can do (as long as I can fit it into the plot)  
  
Oh, also, to anyone else reading this as well as Sweet 16 Movie Buff, I realized the other day that at the end of chapter one I promised a bunch of stuff that was going to happen in chapter two. Originally I had planned to introduce an OC in chappy 2 and move along with Sirius being discontent, but I decided to go in a different direction with it. Sorry I lied.  
  
**Chapter Three - To Win a War**

_One is left with the horrible feeling now that war settles nothing; that to win a war is as disastrous as to lose one. _

_-Agatha Christie (1890 - 1976)_

**June 1996**  
  
"Well Sirius, it's been a whole year." Harry said, feeling quite awkward standing in front of the stone slab bearing the title:

PADFOOT

MAY HE REST IN PEACE

1960-1995  
  
Remus had come to the school and brought him out here, but Harry wasn't quite sure what to say to a hunk of rock bearing his godfather's nickname and date of birth, followed by the painful date of death. He had never spoken to his parent's graves. He wasn't even sure where they were buried to be honest. Remus had laid a careful hand on his shoulder, and then walked away to give him some privacy, as if he were about to start losing it to a stupid ruddy grave marker that didn't even cover Sirius' body. It was really like sitting around talking to thin air for all it was worth, but he was here now, so he might as well do the thing properly.

"I hope you're, er, well wherever you are. Things haven't changed much around here. Fred and George have been making a lot of money with their joke shop, and Mrs Weasley finally accepted it, because of the war and all. I just don't think she wants to take the chance of fighting with them, and then never seeing them again.

"School's almost over for the year. I can't beleive that I'll be graduating next year, it seems like only weeks ago when I first saw you in Magnolia Crescent when I was in third year. My marks are pretty good, I'm surviving Snape's O level potions class, even if he is a great evil git who I can't stand. Ron's doing good, the same as always, playing quidditch and annoying Hermione. I'm not quite sure how Hermione is really. She's been really pale, and just after Christmas she was spending so much time in the library, I was pretty sure she wasn't even eating. She's doing better now, I just wish I knew what was bothering her." Harry sighed, still feeling awkward, but less so than before. He looked up and saw Remus, standing just out of earshot with his eyes closed.

"I'm sorry Sirius." Harry said, laying a hand on the cool stone. He wasn't sure exactly if he had meant sorry he had to leave, or sorry that Sirius was dead in the first place, but he didn't want to investigate the feeling. He just wanted to go back home to Hogwarts and lose himself in the busy school life, and not think about it anymore.

When Harry caught up with Remus, they exchanged a weary smile.  
"Feeling alright Harry."  
"Yeah, just kind of tired. I'd like to go back to the castle." Harry said simply, and began to walk towards the gates of the cemetary. Remus cast one last glance over to his old friend's tombstone. On top of it lay a yellow rose, that Remus had been sure that Harry had not put there. Squinting his eyes, he saw a slight shadow move out into a shady area beyond the graves, and disappear.

Time it seemed, passed differently in heaven than it did on earth. Some days the sun would shine for forever, what would feel like days on end, and sometimes day and night were both cut short as if the next day were really just jostling for it's turn to shine. Sirius often laid on his soft bed in the second bedroom in the Potter's little cottage just wondering how long he had been gone. He knew that this world's version of the sun had risen five hundred and nineteen times. Did that mean that he had missed that many sunrises on Earth? Had it been just over a year since he had joined Remus on a full moon, or encouraged Harry to break rules, or watched Tonks get all tangled up in the coat rack by the door of Grimmauld Place? How long had it been since he had told his mother to shut her ugly face?

This kind of thinking was actually quite rare nowadays. When he first arrived, Sirius had felt out of place and longed for nothing more than a return to his old home. Even though he had loathed the place with every fibre of his being, he had known his place. It had been quite awkward settling into this version of the cottage he had once loved so much to visit. He would wake up everyday and Lily would call him for breakfast and he would sit down with her and James and eat and then they would playfully fight over the shower and who did the dishes today, as he sat and watched silently. They had always been so very kind, his best friends, but he had some feeling deep down that they couldn't possibly want him there. Oh they wanted him around, that much was obvious, but they were a happy couple, filled with love and kisses and joking. He got the strong impression that, although he was welcome to share their home, they would be happier if he found one of his own. There was one slight problem with this however, there were no vacant homes. There were no jobs to be filled, even though there were people that worked selling vegetables or renting videos or working in bookstores. Even then, he wasn't quite sure that money existed here. He had gone with Lily more than once to the market, and never had he seen any type of currency at all. It had seemed like a joke, that people worked without purpose here. How was it heaven if half of the people worked labourous jobs without recieving a cent in compensation?

James had explained this to him one day, catching his friend walking around a strange suburban neighborhood. They had gone for drinks in the pub which seemed miraculously able to make them both lightheaded, but never sick or unable to focus. People came here with a place to be. He had explained.

"The place that you loved most in the world is suddenly yours again mate, and you can just take it. The people that work here only work cus they loved doing it when they were alive. This is heaven Sirius, they give you everything that you ever loved back, and make it better than before." Sirius had understood clearly then. He was taken to Godric's Hollow because it had been the place he had loved most in the world.

"But, that's not right. I mean, now you're stuck with me living in your house being a pain and you can't ever get rid of me is what you're saying! What if two people who absolutely hated each other had the same dream home? What then huh?" James had given him a look then that had made him feel like a complete idiot.

"They each get their own then." He said with a shrug. It took a moment, but comprehension dawned on Sirius. He lived in Godric's Hollow because he loved it more than anyplace in the world. He wanted it. He lived there with the Potters because they wanted him. His heart swelled with affection for his two best friends, and he never fell into depression about the matter again after that.

Everyday, of course, there was the nagging in the back of his mind that told him his friends were down on Earth fighting a war, and that he should be right there fighting alongside them. It had all ended so abruptly for him, that he was left with a strong desire for closure. He hadn't even really fought in the war, he had just left them all as it was just beginning. And it wasn't even as simple as feeling guilty, because he didn't really. He felt guilty for not feeling so guilty. Yes, he wanted to fight Voldemort until the end, but it wasn't like the first war. He didn't want to fight specifically for the good of the people. He wanted to fight for himself. He wanted to end the life of the bastard who had stolen his own. He wanted to be a free man. He wanted Peter Pettigrew to suffer as no human has ever done. He wanted to fall in love, and have children, but more importantly he wanted to have a home with Harry and finish raising him like he had promised he would. He wanted to be that rich, charismatic, undeniably attractive man he had been just after Hogwarts, who had had the world at his feet. Who could go anywhere in life he wanted to.  
  
But then he thought of what he has here.  
  
As odd as it was, Sirius could actually claim to be happy in heaven. Alright, so maybe it wouldn't be that strange for most, but it felt quite odd for a veteran of Azkaban. He supposed that he was probably one of the only resident's of Azkaban prison who had ever made it to the bright shining light. Most had either been guilty, had their soul devoured, or had killed themselves thus sending themselves straight to... the other place. For the most part, the days were the same. Dull as it was, it had a type of peaceful finality that he very much enjoyed. He got out of bed, just as he did everyday. He went down the warm cheery hallway and down the stairs to the kitchen, where Lily would be making pancakes. He would kiss her on the cheek and settle into his spot at the table and watch as James would follow not long after into the kitchen and kiss his wife and sit down across from Sirius. They would chat for a minute or two before Lily put down a large stack of pancakes in front of them, and she would dangle the syrup just out of James' reach, giving him a naughty grin filled with promise. Sirius didn't eat the syrup. When they were done breakfast, all three of them stared each other in the eye for a moment, before bolting as fast as they could towards the only bathroom. As always the winner gets first shower, and the loser gets cleanup duty. Today, Lily won, and gave Sirius and apologetic look as she yanked James into the bathroom with her and Sirius himself headed off to do the dishes, shaking his head at her seemingly insatiable appetite for her husband. Knowing what his two best friends were doing in just the other room wasn't awkward at all. Living in a dorm room for seven years where it was not only easy, but likely to walk in on something that should not be observed had caused dissensitisation. About an hour later the kitchen was cleaned and the Potters came fully dressed out of the bathroom and headed for the door with promises to see him at the park at noon. He waved them off and headed for a shower himself.

It was a rather lazy day today, and he knew it would be one of the longer ones. It felt like Sundays had when he had been alive. A long long day with nothing to do but relax. He spent ages in the shower, just taking in the feeling of warmth and he stood there under the spray of water until his fingers began to look pruny. Sirius loved showers, perhaps because he had been lacking them for so long while in Azkaban and even the first two years he had spent on the run. When he was younger, he had always been very certain to shower everyday no matter what. He had hated feeling grimy. Perhaps it was part of his near aristocratic upbringing that he had never quite been able shed. As a young child, his mother had made him wash his hands at least twenty times a day, always convinced that he wasn't quite clean enough. He remembered being absolutely disgusted when James would come in from quidditch practise wet from the rain and covered in mud and simply kick off his shoes and hop into his bed. James had always been a slob about his appearance, and very neat about his surroundings, whereas Sirius had always been the exact opposite. His bed in the Gryffindor dormotories had always seemed to be floating in an island of every kind of junk, surrounded by the painfully clear spaces surrounding James and Remus' beds. He couldn't remember if Peter had been as stubbornly tidy as the other two. He didn't think so, but then, he didn't really give it much thought.

He pulled on a pair of blue jeans and a black button down shirt - no need for a robe in this weather. He very much enjoyed the freedom of movement provided by muggle clothes, and today he would use it to his full advantage. He pushed his hair back out of his eyes, It had grown just long enough to graze the tops of his ears (the way it had before Azkaban) It was almost time to meet Lily and James from the looks of it outside the window. He stepped out into a beautifully cool fall breeze, Not that there were actual seasons in this place of course, but the air was fresh and strong and blew many coloured flower petals across the grass. The smell of the air was the true smell of life. It was riding a broomstick, or having a leaf fight as children, or discovering the mountain caves on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. The memories seemed almost endless, and he felt an amazing sense of elation. Drawing in a deep breath, he transformed into a large shaggy black dog. He wanted to be quick in meeting Lily and James, and in all honesty he had alway loved running around as Padfoot, bounding out into the open on all fours.

He rushed across large stretches of luscious green grass, spotted here and there with beautiful wildflowers on his way to the park. It had always quite reminded him of home really. His real home that is, not his mother's home. Just after leaving Hogwarts, he and Remus had lived in a quite nice flat and nearby there had been a beautiful park almost identical to the one to which he was heading. There were wrought iron gates and some sort of purple flower. There was a dirt path, that wound it's way throughout, breaking off here and there into other paths that lead to little nooks perfect for picnicing. In the fall of 1980, they had done just that. He remembered James carrying baby Harry, and fussing over the boy like he was a prince, as Sirius and Remus flanked Lily on either side, Remus carrying the large picnic basket, while they both attempted to teach Lily to howl. She had always been very suited to the fall. The cool air made her pale cheeks glow, and her long red hair, pulled back into a ponytail matched perfectly with the colours of the falling leaves. They would try their hardest to make her laugh, and when she did it wasn't just a girly giggle, but a full blown expression of her absolute joy. She would throw her head back, and howl (with laughter, she had never learned how to truly howl) her eyes would be squeezed closed and she would clutch at Remus' arm to keep herself steady. A breeze blew a large orange leaf into her hair, and she grabbed it, giving it to Harry who treated it as some treasured gift. She had loved the fall. She died in the fall.

These thoughts were not as dark as they had once been. Seeing how much happier his friends seemed everyday, made the pain lessen exponentially. But he would not think of those things today anyway. It would be a bright beautiful day, and he and Lily and James would perhaps play tag like children, or climb up the rocks by the river, or maybe even throw around the quaffle. Things that they did often, but never seemed to lose their lure of pure innocent fun, the kind that many do not get to enjoy after reaching the age of twenty. When Sirius came bounding up the trail, still in dog form, the first thing he saw was Lily's fiery red hair that shone like a beacon in the bright sun. She and James were standing, facing the opposite direction, holding hands. Sirius was preparing to pounce upon James and surprise them both, but then he caught a wiff of something on the air, and he skidded to a halt. It was something that he had never smelt here in this place, but that had seemed to haunt his every footstep on Earth. It was the sharp and unmistakeable scent of fear. But what was there to be afraid of in Heaven? He transformed back into himself and walked slowly and cautiously over to the Potters.

"What's happening." He asked them in a gentle, concerned voice. James stood completely still, staring out across the ground in front of them. They were at the edge of the park, and almost the very border of Heaven itself. The gravel and grass smoothed out into a white and fluffy ground, that was very much like a cloud, except solid and strong. Not far from where they stood, was the enormous golden gate and the area where the new dead were received by their friends and families. There was a crowd there now, which was not completely unusual as many people die everyday, but he had never seen quite so many. It was ridiculous really, there hadn't even been another person to die at the same time as him, and yet here there were about fifty people milling about down there. Lily turned to him, her voice sounding forced she responded:

"They've lost the horn."

The night was black as pitch, not a single star showing in the sky as if it too were in mourning. Hermione Granger laid awake in her bed, staring at the ceiling of the 6th year girls dormotory, not tired at all even though it was about three o'clock in the morning. It was a fitting type of day, she thought, it had been exactly one year and three hours and sixty two minutes from the moment that Sirius Black had died. Harry had flooed to London earlier today with the permission of professor Dumbledore, to visit the grave marker they had left for him. Not that there had been a body to bury, but Mrs. Weasley had suggested having something to represent Sirius, a place for his soul to visit. At the time, Hermione had thought it was a very good thing to do, but pondering it now, it seemed like a childish story in an attempt to soothe away the pain.  
  
She wasn't quite convinced that Sirius' soul was capable of visiting, considering how he died.  
  
She almost wondered why she even thought of it at all really. That night last summer, when she and Harry had fought, the loss had been so fresh. She had gone upstairs and cried, curled up in the middle of the bed that she used. It had struck her then how much time she had spent at Grimmaul Place. The bed there had been his property, and it belonged in his house, and she was crying and that made the feeling even worse, illogical as it was. It was true that she hadn't been that close to him, she could not claim to have loved him, she couldn't even say she had fancied him as she had suspected Ginny had in that idolic way that young girls sometimes fancied men twice their age. She had however, admired him. Many people wouldn't see it, but she had always looked up to Sirius Black in a way that she had never quite looked up to anyone else before. It wasn't his intelligence, (although she knew he could be quite clever when he applied himself) and it had nothing to do with his magical abilities. It had nothing to do with anything that could be learnt or taught, and lord knows she rarely agreed with most of his ideas anyway. No, what made Sirius Black a man to care for was quite deeper. It was not his brain, but his heart. His loyalty and determination knew no bounds, even if it did get him into trouble often enough. She had never met anyone in her whole life who she was certain was quite as... capable as Sirius. She had always been quite certain that he was one person that could overcome anything, escape everything, but at the same time remain a good man through and through. That was his magic.  
  
Back then she almost believed, as she knew Harry did as well, that it wasn't really over for Sirius. That he would walk back through the door to number twelve Grimmauld Place one day, and laugh at the shocked look on all of their faces. It would all be one big joke, and then life would go on as it always did. It had to, because if _Sirius_ couldn't do it, if he really couldn't escape... then it all became so real. But time went on, they went back to school, and Sirius never did walk back through the door. Not one of the letters that Harry received all that year were written out in that familiar messy scrawl. In all the times that she had stayed up late in the common room alone, not once did she see his grinning face amongst the flames in the fireplace.  
  
And slowly, very slowly, a part of her died and was taken away to wherever Sirius was now. It was the part of her that beleived that one man could overcome any obstacle, the part that beleived that good would always triumph over evil. It was the part of her that beleived that praying can make you heard. They can't possibly hear, all of those people. And the battle wore on. It had been very subdued in truth, far less horrifying and overt than she had thought it would be. Deatheaters attack random homes, aurors chase the deatheaters, the deatheaters go to Azkaban, and half of them promptly escape because the dementors are no longer there to keep them weak. And life at Hogwarts just went on as usual.  
  
Bellatrix Lestrange was back on the streets somewhere.  
  
Sirius was dead.  
  
And she had thought she was over it, really she had.  
  
Of course she missed him, but over the past few months his memory had begun to fade into the background and she no longer got upset or cried. She knew that he had only been the first soldier to hit the ground, and that many more had and would soon after join him. This bothered her often enough, but she tried to be proactive, to think of a plan of attack, rather than all the losses. Things had gotten much better.  
  
That's when the dreams started.  
  
Or at least they started as dreams. Sirius generally featured largely in them, and this is what confused her because she really had thought that she had put it behind her. Sometimes there were other people though. Harry, and Voldemort and a woman. A very beautiful woman, she knew even if she couldn't ever remember what exactly she looked like. In the dream she had always glowed with power. But the dreams weren't where it ended. She would be sitting at the Gryffindor table in the great hall, when all of a sudden there would be a quick piercing pain in her head and she would see something. At first she didn't understand what it was, but she now knew it was the veil from the department of mysteries. Sometimes she would see great gates shuddering under some unseen pressure, quite often however, it was Sirius that she saw. She dreamt about him, got these strange flashes that showed him to her, but she couldn't understand. She was sure that they were glimpses of the past, he looked so young and strong, but she could never understand what these strange flashes meant. Ron and Harry (neither of whom she told about any of this) thought she was going mad, constantly rushing off to the library (moreso than usual) barely eating, skiving off classes. This hadn't lasted long, but only for the first few weeks of January, until she realised that there was nothing in the Hogwarts library about great bloody migraines that come with pictures of the past.  
  
All of the walls that she had built up to protect herself were starting to fail under the pressure. Tonight the dream had been longer, very different from before. She saw Sirius, just as she had every night, but something was different. Rather than just seeing fleeting glimpses of his face, she saw moments, actions, pain. Everything was always very distorted, as if she herself were very very drunk, and wobbling all over the place. She saw Sirius, falling back back back, Harry standing there, watching. Sirius writhed in pain and clawed at his throat. He sat up, silver eyes dull and she heard a voice, high pitched and lauging.  
  
"Fetch."  
  
She woke up then, taking deep breaths and covered in cool sweat, but a searing pain crossed her forehead again and she bit her lip to keep from crying out and waking the others. The images began to assault her again, even though she was awake. She saw Harry again, running to the door, screaming for Sirius to come back... that he had promised he would come back.  
  
"Better go help him." said another voice. "wouldn't want him to get himself killed."  
  
And Harry turned, but it wasn't Harry. She rubbed her eyes to clear them, as if she were really seeing everything in front of her face rather than in her head. Suddenly, the pain receded and everything went black. That was when she laid herself out and began staring at the ceiling. She had been doing this for about three and a half hours now, mind racing, unable to sleep, images of her best friend's dead godfather racing through her head.  
  
She didn't miss Sirius. She was obsessed with him.

Well, that's all for today folks. I was feeling super creative when I went on and wrote this, and Hermione is now a part of my plot in a whole new way than she had been before. Isn't it just grand?! I actually have the plot mostly mapped out now, and I've finished writing chapter five, I just need to do a chapter four first. Next chapter I guarantee that Sirius will be coming back, but don't worry, it's not all gonna be as simple as walking through the door to Grimmauld Place and shouting Honey I'm home and I've brought my dead best friend with me! I hate it when author's do that.  
  
Next chapter's gonna be good, I promise. It's when all the mytery begins - aside from my little bit with Hermione which I put in here instead. Please if you're reading, keep on reading! and If you're reading and not reviewing, please send me something! The more reviews I get, the faster I work yanno.  
  
Speaking of reviews once more  
  
Lady Taliesin: My second reviewer. All I have to say is, you're awesome, you're stuff is awesome, and it's awesome that you like my stuff. I'm loving two way mirrors, it's one of my favourite stories. It's really awesome to have an author that I admire, tell me that they like my stuff. Both you and Sweet 16 Movie Buff deserve a giant plate full of cookies for being so awesome! Have I said awesome enough tonight? It's kinda late and I'm on that incredible, just made this the longest story I've published yet high. 


End file.
